“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them [to do]. Then flames leaped from the LORD’s presence and burned them to death before the LORD.” Leviticus 10:1-2 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Freedom. Reading this passage was like a breath of fresh air. “So there are times when doing ministry may be against God’s will. I don’t have to accept every ministry opportunity presented to me.”, I thought.
A guy named Joshua Duncan wrote this about this passage.
Nadab and Abihu had been consecrated as priests. They were to serve the Lord in His temple, and if you have read Exodus and Leviticus you know that His instructions were quite specific. There were certain things that the priests were commanded to do in God’s service, and they were to do nothing else. One such service was the burning of incense, as detailed in Exodus 30:1-10. This is the command that the sons of Aaron disobeyed.
So what incense am I to burn before the Lord? What incense should I not burn?
It reminds me about John 15:1-8 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.”
Looking at the section about pruning back, God seems to generally want us to be really good at a few things and not spread ourselves thin. We’re more effective that way. My incense may be different than yours.
I don’t know if God will strike me down for accepting one more photo shoot than is in His will, but I pray He let’s me know someway that I am being less effective than I could be.
God deserves our best in the best quantities we can offer. Seek out His perfect will for your life and discover the freedom in being “cut back” or “trimmed”.
What’s in your life that needs to be “trimmed back” so God can fully use you?
